Play Book Tag discussion

I really loved another book by this author, and I know many people liked this book even more. So I went into this book with an abundance of patience. I loved the overall story, the ephemeral quality of this book, and many of the connections to various aspects of science, nature, events, studies, mythology, etc. I also liked the imagery, most of the characters and the interrelationships between many of the characters.

The structure of the book was challenging, with a large numbers of characters, locations and timelines. I didn't have a written book handy, which made it even more challenging. Because of a poorly designed audio book (it didn't break up a nine hour chapter into smaller increments), and an overly sensitive phone screen, I frequently had to rewind to find where I left off. I ended up listening to many parts of the book two, three or even four times. The extra hours reduced my patience and enjoyment of the book, but they did help me to pick up details I might have missed earlier. This improved my comprehension, but not always my appreciation. Some plot details or characters don't hold up to close examination. (Some of the Bewilderment reviews suggested this as well.) Overall, I admire the book, and I'm very glad I read it.

This is the kind of book that I think people could really geek out over. If there is a discussion group somewhere or an analysis of what it all means, I'd love to see it. Early in the book one of the characters was a student subject in a simulated prison experiment. I recognized the study from a college class in the 1970's but I don't think the book identified it as the Zimbardo or Standford Prison experiment. I think other events (especially the tree activists) are based on real life situations that I don't really remember. Was there a bombing that resulted in an activist's death? There were several references to mythological or religious characters or symbols that I didn't quite get. Sometime just a tiny bit more information would help make sense of references (or give me something to look up). Of course, having a print copy would have given me correct spellings which might have been all I needed. I suspect there was a lot of symbolism at the end with the computer game (and seeds maybe) but I was burnt out by that point, and just let it flow over me. I really liked the seed program developed by the hearing impaired scientist, and I know that's a real life project.


Having both the audio and kindle would have been ideal. There was one major advantage to the audio compared to print. The audio narrator did a good job providing different voices for most of the characters. I often knew immediately who was speaking based on the voice, even before the words offered clues. I saw later that some reviewers were offended by a Chinese accent (the words alone were equally cringeworthy), and the voicing for a hearing impaired character (which I think was actually spot on).

Good review and I can see how audio would have been difficult. I read this on kindle and there were numerous times, I had to stop and look things up.

I absolutely did geek out on this book. I couldn't have done that with the audiobook, which I quit early on.

Great review, Nancy. I'm about half way through The Overstory right now, and loving it, although it does seem to be taking me an extraordinarily long time to read. I've been reading it in small increments for the past 3 weeks or so.

I loved this book, but yeah it's a lot to process. I can't imagine trying to do it over audio. My physical copy was very well thumbed through by the time I was done.

I really liked the first part with the stories of the diverse characters. But the giant middle part was long and frustrating. If these are the people who are going to save the planet, we are doomed. It reminded me of A Friend of the Earth, which has a similar theme, though from a more cynical perspective and with lower quality writing.

The book on trees which is part of the plot seems to be equivalent to The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate—Discoveries from A Secret World.

I adored this book but I could never have done it on audio. Kudos!